Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Hypericum androsaemum cultivar Curacao.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Hypericum plant, botanically known as Hypericum androsaemum, commercially used as cut stems with fruits, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Curacaoxe2x80x99.
The new Hypericum is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in El Quinche, Pichincha, Ecuador. The objective of the breeding program was to develop cut Hypericum varieties with durable foliage and attractive fruit coloration.
The new cultivar originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in August, 2000 of a proprietary selection of Hypericum androsaemum identified as Code 213, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Hypericum androsaemum identified as Code 63, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The cultivar Curacao was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in El Quinche, Pichincha, Ecuador.
Asexual reproduction of the new Hypericum by terminal cuttings taken at El Quinche, Pichincha, Ecuador since February, 2001, has shown that the unique features of this new Hypericum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Curacaoxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Curacaoxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Upright plant habit.
2. Durable dark green-colored leaves.
3. Large light pink-colored rounded fruits.
4. Good postproduction longevity.
Plants of the new Hypericum differ from plants of the female and male parent selections in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Hypericum are taller than plants of the female and male parent selections.
2. Plants of the new Hypericum and the female and male parent selections differ in fruit coloration as plants of the female parent selection have greenish brown-colored fruits and plants of the male parent selection have green-colored fruits.
Plants of the new Hypericum can be compared to plants of the Hypericum cultivar Bosapin, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,993. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in El Quinche, Pichincha, Ecuador, plants of the new Hypericum differed from plants of the cultivar Bosapin in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Hypericum were taller than plants of the cultivar Bosapin.
2. Plants of the new Hypericum had longer internodes than plants of the cultivar Bosapin.
3. Plants of the new Hypericum and the cultivar Bosapin differed in stem coloration.
4. Plants of the new Hypericum had smaller fruits than plants of the cultivar Bosapin.
5. Plants of the new Hypericum and the cultivar Bosapin differed in fruit coloration as plants of the cultivar Bosapin had red-colored fruits.